This isn't the first time the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers have met in the postseason. It also isn't a long playoff history by any means, but they have met a few times to produce some very memorable games. No one would confuse them as natural or extended rivals, but theirs is a unique connection that sometimes feels like it flies under the radar.
Each chapter of this book doubles as stories we'll never forget. Each installment is both similar and dissimilar to the tale that preceded it. Another finds its setting in the 2024-25 NFL season's playoff tournament.
The January 2025 matchup marks only the fourth time the Eagles and Packers have buckled their chinstraps for playoff pigskin. The all-time postseason tally spans over six decades. We begin there to fire up the time machine.
1960 NFL Championship: Eagles 17, Packers 13
All four postseason games between the Eagles and Packers took place in Philadelphia. The first of which was played at Franklin Field. In the days before the Super Bowl, the NFL Championship was hosted by one of the participating teams. The home team was determined by alternating between conferences (then called divisions).
The Eagles were the 1960 title game's host team. It was Philly's first championship game appearance since 1949.
This game was a seminal moment in NFL history for a couple of reasons. Most prominently, it was the first, and only, postseason loss in the coaching career of Packers head coach Vince Lombardi, the namesake of the Lombardi Trophy. That's a pretty big deal and a nice feather in the Eagles' cap.
The second reason is this. Chuck Bednarik is, without question, on Philly's Mount Rushmore. Once he tackled Packers Hall of Fame fullback Jim Taylor at the Eagles' nine-yard line and the time expired on the clock, he became the only member of the organization who was a member of the 1949 AND 1960 NFL Championship teams.
This win would also represent the most recent title won by the Eagles until their Super Bowl LIl win. Still, we shouldn't allow the luster of Super Bowl glory to cast shade on how special a moment this was.
2003 Season: Eagles 20, Packers 17 (OT)
4th and 26... You remember it well, don't you. For those that don't, here's a refresher. Something about this still gives us chills.
The hits keep coming. One of the greatest playoff games the Eagles ever played took place in January of 2004 during the NFL's Divisional Round. Far be it from us to tell the whole story that has been entrenched in the minds of Eagles fans for the last two decades, but here's the cliff-notes version.
Once again with their backs against the wall, a bit of a theme that season, and their hope resting on one play, Donovan McNabb made magic happen. Facing a 4th-and-26 scenario late in the 4th quarter, he found Freddie Mitchell over the middle thanks to some shockingly lax Cover 2 work from Green Bay Packers' defense.
David Akers' field goal sent the game into overtime. In the extra period, the Eagles went three and out and punted after winning the coin toss. A pop-fly interception from Brett Favre's arm landed in the waiting hands of Brian Dawkins. Another Akers field goal in the extra session would place Philly back in the NFC Championship Game.
This one will forever be a true classic.
2010 Season: Packers 21, Eagles 16
Comparatively speaking, this was a bit of a wet-fart ending after the first two classics, especially considering the Eagles came up short. It's a good thing we all lived to see another round.
The 2010 season was tons of fun. This one took the air out of the balloon. Michael Vick had gone on a heater after becoming a starting quarterback again.
On a frigid day at the Linc, the eventual Super Bowl champion Packers kept the high-powered Eagles contained in this Wild Card matchup. Philly would keep things close and earn its shot at tying the game, but Vick forced one to Riley Cooper in the back of the end zone.
His prayers weren't answered. Tramon Williams intercepted the pass, and Philly's season was over. Still, after seeing Green Bay go on to win football's biggest game after that, we often wonder what might have happened had Philly gotten past the Pack. Might they have been good enough to win it all?
It's impossible to tell, but we enjoy dreaming. We guess we'll never know, huh?